Road gritted by concerned school run mum

A parent has gritted the road outside her children’s school by hand after pleading with Bedford’s mayor for the council gritter to treat the area.

Bedford’s mayor for the council gritter to treat the area.

During term time, Rosemary Cheetham walks to Pinchmill Lower School, in Felmersham, with her three children, one of whom is in a pushchair.

But, she said, with snow and ice, the road becomes dangerous - which she says she pointed out to Mayor Dave Hodgson last August during his village surgeries.

She said: “Part of the problem is the pavement runs out half-way down the road, and we have very nearly been hit by a car skidding on the ice.”

Since meeting the mayor, Rosemary said she has received emails from council officers asking if road safety is still an issue.

She said, “I keep being told ‘it’s been passed on’. So, I’ve taken a bag of grit and spread it outside the school myself.”

While it is a dead-end road, Rosemary says a school bus, a large coach and milk tanker regularly go up the road and turn around. She said: “Why can’t a gritter go up?”

Mayor Dave Hodgson said: “I am grateful to Mrs Cheetham for raising this, which only she has identified, but which is clearly a real issue. I have therefore instructed officers to identify a solution, which in this instance is complicated by the fact that the school access road is not wide enough to accommodate the turning of a gritting vehicle. We will seek to bring forward a solution to tackle the problem as quickly as possible.”